1. Field of the Invention.
This invention relates to wire strippers generally and, more particularly, to a novel blade for wire strippers which includes a V-notch useful when a wire stripper is used for stripping coaxial cable.
2. Background Art.
Wire strippers are well known devices for removing insulation from wire or cable. One such stripper is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,302, issued Feb. 21, 1989, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the entire disclosure of which patent is hereby made a part hereof by reference. A preferred embodiment of the disclosure of that patent is directed to a wire stripper having one or more rotatable and/or fixed circular cutting blades; although, the present invention is not limited to circular cutting blades and may be employed, as well, with wire cutters having straight cutting blades.
Wire strippers for coaxial cable typically employ two cutting blades which are rotated about the cable, one of which blades cuts through and severs an outer layer of insulation and the other of which blades cuts through and severs a braided or foil sheath and an inner layer of insulation which surrounds a centrally disposed conductor. The blades are limited in amount of radial motion relative to the central axis of the cable, with the intention that they cut through and sever only that which they are intended to cut through and sever. It is particularly important that the center conductor not be cut or nicked during the stripping operation. A problem has developed in that the dimensional tolerances of the jacket diameter vary, thus permitting differences in cut depth. Strippers, therefore, tend to cut or nick the center conductors of cables having the smaller jacket diameters within the tolerance range.
To avoid the above problem, stripping blades have been developed which include a square notch, with the corners of the square notch cutting through the braid sheath and the inner layer of insulation, while the center conductor remains within a circle spaced from and concentric with the center conductor without the center conductor being cut or nicked, the circle being defined by the rotating corners of the square notch. While the square notch avoids damage to the center conductor, such known stripping blades with square notches have a substantial disadvantage in that the square corners of the notch tend to "drag" the braid sheath and one or more of the fine wire strands comprising the braid may become wrapped around the center connector. Often, this wrapping is unnoticed by the technician stripping the cable to make a connection and the result may be that an end connector is placed on the cable with a built-in short-circuit.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a blade for wire strippers which overcomes the disadvantages of conventional square-notch-blade wire strippers.
Other objects of the present invention, as well as particular features and advantages thereof, will be elucidated in, or apparent from, the following description and the accompanying drawing figures.